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Army kills four Pak soldiers, five Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists

The Army killed at least four Pakistani soldiers on Monday, including a major, as well as five Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists in separate incidents as part of its strategy to "pro-actively dominate" the Line of Control.

TNN | Updated: Jan 16, 2018, 08:05 IST

Highlights

The Indian Army killed at least four Pakistani soldiers and five Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists in separate incidents on Monday.

Islamabad claimed it had lost only four personnel engaged in "line communication maintenance" in the forward area.

Pakistan owning up the casualties is seen as significant.

Army personnel take positions towards the spot where five Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists were killed during gun fight at Uri near LoC in North Kashmir on Monday. (PTI photo)

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Retaliatory firing: Indian Arm...

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR/JAMMU: The Army killed at least four Pakistani soldiers on Monday, including a major, as well as five Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terrorists in separate incidents as part of its strategy to "pro-actively dominate" the Line of Control, even as General Bipin Rawat warned that his force would continue to use its "might" to teach Pakistan harsh lessons if it did not cease aiding cross-border terrorism.

The four Pakistan army soldiers were killed, while some others were injured, in the Indian Army's retaliatory fire assault after a ceasefire violation in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district early on Monday morning.

"Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing on our forward posts in the Jandrot-Kotli area in Mendhar. Our troops then targeted and destroyed the Pakistan army post at Kotli, which was involved in the ceasefire, with heavy mortar shelling," a senior officer said.

There were some reports that seven Pakistan army soldiers were killed in the mortar firing but Islamabad claimed it had lost only four personnel engaged in "line communication maintenance" in the forward area. It also claimed that three Indian soldiers were killed and several injured but the Indian Army denied this.

Pakistan owning up the casualties is seen as significant. "The Pakistan army usually does not acknowledge the death of its soldiers. But this time, it seems to have done so because a major was also killed. There were no Indian casualties," the Indian officer said.

In the other incident, the Army killed five JeM terrorists while thwarting a major infiltration bid in the Uri sector along the LoC, around 100 km from Srinagar, in an overnight operation that ended on Monday morning.

"The major infiltration bid, the first of 2018, by a fierce group was foiled, averting a major tragedy on Army Day (January 15) and in the run-up to Republic Day celebrations," Brigadier Y S Ahlawat told reporters in Uri.

Alert Indian troops detected and tracked the movement of the terrorists as they were trying to infiltrate along the river Jhelum, which flows into Pakistan from India. "In the ensuing firefight, the Army neutralised five terrorists. Four bodies were recovered and the fifth is lying near the boat the terrorists had used to cross the river," Brig Ahlawat said.

The stepped-up hostilities along the LoC came the day Gen Rawat, addressing the Army Day parade in New Delhi, said India may escalate its counter-terrorism military offensive by "using other measures and actions as well" if Pakistan continued to aid and abet cross-border terrorism.

Attacking Pakistan for actively aiding terrorists to infiltrate into India, the Army chief said the Indian security forces would continue to effectively retaliate to any "provocative action" by the neighbouring country. "Pakistan army has been continuously trying to help terrorists sneak into India along the LoC in J&K. We are using our might to teach them a lesson… We will not let anti-India activities succeed at any cost," he said.

The Indian Army has over the last few months repeatedly warned the Pakistan army that all its misadventures to either target Indian troops or provide covering fire to infiltrating terrorists would be met with punitive fire assaults.

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